A document to protect the heritage of the Grade Two listed building made famous by Oscar Wilde in his Ballad of Reading Gaol is set to be approved this week.

And it comes with a criticism of the Ministry of Justice for failing to reveal what progress is being made on the sale of the historic Reading Prison site.

The prison - a striking building in the heart of Reading’s Abbey Quarter - was shut down by the Government in December 2013.

The Ministry of Justice intends to sell the site, but 16 months on the historic building still stands empty with no progress towards its future use.

On Thursday, March 26, Reading Borough Council’s strategic environment, planning and transport committee will be asked to adopt an Outline Development Framework.

This document will provide a framework to help control and shape any future use and development of the prison site.

The proposals in the document follow a public consultation in which members of the public were invited to comment on a draft.

The document outlines the history of the site and its importance in the context of the wider Abbey area.

It does not indicate any preference for possible future uses of the site, but it does highlight relevant national and local planning policies. These would need to be taken into consideration by any potential buyer who wanted to develop the site.

It also takes account of the results of two desk top studies commissioned by the MoJ detailing assessments of the site’s archaeology and the historical significance of the prison.

The document also makes clear the requirement for further detailed archaeological investigation and appraisal for the former prison site in advance of any planning application being lodged by any potential developer.

"Silence"

Councillor Tony Page, lead member for strategic environment, planning and transport, said: “More than 16 months after the Reading Prison was abruptly shut down by Government, this historic building remains empty with nothing definitive from the MoJ on progress. The council is nevertheless moving to protect the history and heritage of what is a key site for Reading.

“If and when this site is eventually sold by the MoJ, it means any developer will need to pay close consideration to the local and national planning policies set out by the council in the Prison Framework. I’d like to thank members of the public who took the time to comment on the draft document.

“In the meantime, I continue to urge the MoJ to break their silence on Reading Prison and tell Reading what progress - if any - has been made on a sale of the site. Reading Prison is far too important a building to the town to be left sitting empty.”

Reading Prison sits within Reading’s Abbey Quarter – a site of national historical significance.

In June last year the council received a first round pass for its Reading Abbey Revealed application to the Heritage Lottery Fund. Since then, the council has been developing the project, working on activity and interpretation plans for the site, including new educational activities for schools, public events and improved signs. These will be submitted as part of the second round application to the HLF in autumn this year. More than 1,000 people responded to a public consultation on the Abbey Quarter Project earlier this year.

History

Oscar Wilde was the most famous inmate, but Hollywood tough guy Stacy Keach found himself incarcerated there in 1984 after he was arrested at Heathrow for carrying cocaine.

The youngest prisoner was Frank Stockwell jailed at the age of seven in 1844 for arson and in 1891 W Watts was sentenced to three days’ imprisonment for stealing cherries - aged 10.

As the county jail it was the site of executions, the first of which was Thomas Jennings who poisoned his four-year-old son. The last public execution was in 1862 - John Gould who murdered his seven-year-old daughter by cutting her throat with a razor.

In 1916 the jail was redesignated to hold Irish prisoners following the Easter Rising.

It closed in 1920 and was used for internment and as a borstal then reopened as a local prison in 1972 and then as a Young Offender Institution in 1992.

The site formed part of the walled precinct to Reading Abbey and falls within the Reading Abbey and Civil War Earthworks Scheduled Monument.

It contained part of the Abbey Church itself and may also have been a cemetery associated with the abbey.

There is potential for archaeological remains from the Bronze Age through to the Vikings and it was an important area of defence in the Civil War.

Some have even suggested King Henry 1 might be buried underneath it - offering the potential for a reburial not unlike that of Richard 111 this week in Leicestershire.